Brčko District

Brčko District Brčko Distrikt Брчко дистрикт
Flag Coat of arms of Brčko District Coat of arms
Location of Brčko in Bosnia and Herzegovina Location of Brčko in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Established by Final Arbitration Decision	March 5, 1999
Government
• Mayor	Mirsad Đapo
• President of the District Assembly	Dr. Milan Tomić
• International Supervisor	Raffi Gregorian
Area
• Total	208 km2 (80 sq mi)
Population  (1991)
• Total	87,332
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	76100
Area code	(+387) 49
Website	Official Government Web Site, Official District Assembly Website Official District Prosecutor Web Site

Brčko District (Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian: Brčko distrikt (Брчко дистрикт in Cyrillic)) in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina is a self-governing administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it is formally part of both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.

History

Brčko District was established after an arbitration process undertaken by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to Dayton Peace Accords however, the process could only arbitrate the disputed portion of the Inter-Entity Boundary Line. The Brčko District was formed of the entire territory of the former Brčko municipality, of which 48% (including Brčko city) was in the Republika Srpska, while 52% was in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the war, the EU has maintained a diplomatic peace-keeping presence in the area.

In 2006 under the Supervisory Order all "Entity legislation in Brčko District and the IEBL" were abolished. The ruling made by the Brčko Supervisor Susan Johnson abolishes all Entity Laws in the District also abolishes the Entity Border Line. The ruling makes the Laws of the District and the Laws of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina (including the laws of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) paramount within the District.

Brcko was the only element in the Dayton Peace Agreement which was finalized. The arbitration agreement was finalized in April of 1996 resulting in a "district" as mentioned above which was to be administrated by international representation with ambassador status.

The first Ambassador representing the District of Brcko arrived in June of 1996. Prior to that time, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had a modest office headed by Randolph Hampton. During the interim time before the District of Brcko could be represented post arbitration agreement, local elections were held, humanitarian relief was provided with cooperation from USAID and ECHO.

Brcko continues to be a divided town which prior to the war in Bosnia (April of 1992) was a city with Croat, Serbs, Bosnians living together under peaceful co-existence.

Population

1971

74.771 total

• Muslims - 30.181 (40,36%)
• Croats - 24.925 (33,33%)
• Serbs - 17.709 (23,68%)
• Yugoslavs - 1.086 (1,45%)
• others - 870 (1,18%)

1991

Before the war the Municipality of Brčko had 87,332 inhabitants (1991 census), including:

• 45% Muslims by nationality
• 25% Croats
• 21% Serbs
• 6% Yugoslavs
• 3% others

1997

In 1997, population of the district territory numbered 33,623 inhabitants, including:

• Serbs: 18,193 (54.11%)
• Bosniaks: 10,569 (31.43%)
• Croats: 2,650 (7.88%)

Current population

There has not been an official census since 1991, though some have offered preliminary statistics.

According to the former mayor Branko Damjanac, the current population is composed of:

• 40% Serbs
• 39% Bosniaks
• 20% Croats

In 2006, population of the district numbered 68,863 people, including:

• Bosniaks: 32,332 (46.95%)
• Serbs: 28,612 (41.55%)
• Croats: 7,919 (11.50%)

Other source claim that population of the district numbering 70,000 people, including:

• 45% Serbs
• 41% Bosniaks
• 13% Croats
• 1% others.

Government and politics

There are 29 seats in the Assembly of the Brčko District. The seats are divided as follows:[1]

By party:

• 6 Serbian Democratic Party
• 5 Social Democratic Party
• 4 Party of Democratic Action
• 3 Croatian Democratic Union
• 3 Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 2 Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
• 2 Croatian Peasant Party
• 2 Socialist Party of the Republika Srpska
• 1 Democratic Party
• 1 Indepedent

By ethnicity:

• 13 Bosniaks
• 11 Serbs (See also: Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• 5 Croats (See also: Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

By gender:

• 27 men
• 2 women

See also

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Republika Srpska
• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

External links

• Brcko District - Official Web site
• Government of the Brčko District
• Assembly of the Brčko District
• History and Mandate of the OHR North/Brčko
• Brčko district map
• ABOLISH THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA

References

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